The History of Wind Chimes

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A celebrated way to decorate and indoor or outdoor space, wind chimes make any space instantly magical. What we know today as roadside souvenirs and artist-made art objects actually began as religious musical instruments in ancient China.

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Wind chimes were modernized around 1100 B.C., soon after the Chinese began the art of casting bells.  They created a type of bell without a clapper and called it a yong-zhong. These unique instruments were made only by skilled metal artisans and were typically used for religious ceremonies.

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The Chinese later created an instrument called the feng-ling, which is more similar to what we now call a wind bell or wind chime. Luckily, now we can display and listen to wind chimes practically anywhere!